Dominance on GOP Agenda

[illflem]

Depriving Democrats of voters and money is among White House policies' other aims.

By Peter Wallsten and Warren Vieth, Times Staff Writers


WASHINGTON — As the nation's trial lawyers again funneled tens of millions of dollars to Democrats and their causes in the last election, Republicans were crafting a strategy to choke off that money for future campaigns.

President Bush's agenda for the next four years, much of which he will highlight in his State of the Union address tonight, includes many proposals that would not only change public policy but, the GOP hopes, achieve an ambitious political goal: Stripping money and voters from the Democratic Party and cementing Republican dominance for years after he leaves office.

One of the clearest examples is an effort to limit jury awards in lawsuits against doctors and businesses. The caps might not only discourage "frivolous" lawsuits, as Bush argues, but also deprive trial lawyers of income from damage awards that they could then give to Democrats.

"If we could succeed in getting some form of tort reform passed — medical malpractice reform or any of part of that — it would go a long ways toward … taking away the muscle, the financial muscle that they have," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who ousted Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle last fall despite a heavy flood of trial lawyer money backing the Democrat.

On issue after issue, the White House is staking out positions that achieve a policy goal while expanding the GOP's appeal to new voters or undermining the Democrats' ability to compete. Interviews with Bush advisors, a recent memo drafted by a senior White House strategist and a speech last month by the Republican Party's new chairman show that the political advantages are very much part of the calculation.

Bush's plan to alter Social Security, for example, would allow younger workers to divert some of their payroll taxes into privately owned retirement accounts. GOP strategists hope it would also foster a new "investor class" that would vote Republican.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-agenda2feb02,0,3477198.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[LSparkle]

1. Proof they are FASCISTS

They do not believe in a multi-party system; THEY WANT IT ALL. No dissent, no recourse, no oversight. I HATE THEM. (OK, where's my frigging valium?)

[ernstbass]

2. The evil empire is thriving

[Kagemusha]

3. I finally understand.

SS reform.
Tax reform.
Corporate tax alleviation.
Estate tax alleviation.
Tort reform.
Media consolidation.
Militarism.

There's only one thread that ties all these together: Transferring money away from people who might support the Democratic Party to people who will support the Republican Party.

And really, now that I think back upon it, that's all it ever was.

Where is the national interest today?...

[BadGimp]

4. The Reason They Win..

They win because they know it's a War and that's how they treat it.

They Fight. There is nothing that they can do to win that is beneath them. They can justify any action including stealing an election.

Until the Democratic Paarty accepts that we are in a War for the future of this nation, the GOP will rule with a iron fist and we will not be able to a damn thing about it.

Of course to be completely honest I am not convinced the Democratic party has not been consummed by the same cabal that is running the GOP.

I have begun to question if I am even a Democratic, even thought I vote a near straight party line ticket each election.

Dr Dean Save Us! :) jk

[Anakin Skywalker]

8. Your post was right on.

It is defeatist to think we can cozy up and play nice with these bloodthirsty conservo-savages. They treat politics like a war. They fight to WIN, not to compromise or make nice with the "colleague across the isle". I am not at all saying that to defeat them, one must be uncivil and stoop to their level, but one must NEVER back down from them either. They sense weakness and they move in for the kill.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

10. Bingo!

This is war!

[jswordy]

5. This is old news to many who kept track of...

...news stories pre-election, beginning in late 2003, but thanks for the update.

The GOP also is working very hard to further curtail remnants of union power, as unions (which only represent 11 percent of U.S. workers these days) are major donors to Democrats.

A later Republican attempt (perhaps in late 2005) will push a federal law requiring that workers in a plant organized by a union who do not wish to pay union dues don't have to. The states that now have this law, union dues have dwindled markedly (by as much as 40 percent in some states).

Be on the lookout for that one. It too was in the news pre-election. The jury is still out on whether it can be done with executive branch regulation changes within the Dept. of Labor, should a Congressional law fail.

[Stuckinthebush]

6. When will the Dems learn that this is war?

No compromise
No playing nice
No concerns on how they will look

Clearly, consistently, and frequently state the Democratic value system to the public. Let them know who Dems are and what they stand for without apologies.

Fight hard in the Senate and House to thwart all attempts by the Republicans to continue to undermine all that Democrats hold dear. Do this without apologies!

Use populist language to help the public understand what is at stake. Use emotion-laden language to heighten the sense of urgency in the public to stop the Republican agenda.

Use historical comparisons even if they make others uncomfortable.

Get the founding fathers back on the Dem side. Show how the early writings of the founders reflect ideals that correspond to Democratic ideals.

Regain the moral high ground without the need to invoke a particular religion. Bring ministers, rabbis, and others with moral authority to our table and our defense. Let them show how the twisted morality of the GOP goes against religious and philosophical morality.

It is war, and it is time for us to wake up and realize it.

[AlGore-08.com]

7. The use of "dominance" made me think of one of Gore's speeches

http://www.algore-08.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=84

To begin with, from its earliest days in power, this administration sought to radically destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided America since the end of World War II. The long successful strategy of containment was abandoned in favor of the new strategy of "preemption." And what they meant by preemption was not the inherent right of any nation to act preemptively against an imminent threat to its national security, but rather an exotic new approach that asserted a unique and unilateral U.S. right to ignore international law wherever it wished to do so and take military action against any nation, even in circumstances where there was no imminent threat. All that is required, in the view of Bush's team is the mere assertion of a possible, future threat - and the assertion need be made by only one person, the President.

More disturbing still was their frequent use of the word "dominance" to describe their strategic goal, because an American policy of dominance is as repugnant to the rest of the world as the ugly dominance of the helpless, naked Iraqi prisoners has been to the American people. Dominance is as dominance does.

Dominance is not really a strategic policy or political philosophy at all. It is a seductive illusion that tempts the powerful to satiate their hunger for more power still by striking a Faustian bargain. And as always happens - sooner or later - to those who shake hands with the devil, they find out too late that what they have given up in the bargain is their soul.

From "The True Meaning of Abu Ghraib"
5/26/04

[VegasWolf]

9. Dominance will go good with those GOP bondage suits. n/t